Preliminary election results show that Charles Cole and Steve Bennett will continue their race for the 37th District Assembly seat through to November after securing the top two places in the March 3 primary.
The 37th District includes the cities of Buellton, Carpinteria, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Solvang from Santa Barbara County and more than a quarter of Ventura County. California’s foray into the Super Tuesday primary election included seven candidates running for the Assembly seat that Monique Limón is leaving in 2021.
Cole, the youngest candidate and lone Republican in the field, came out on top with 26,102 total votes, or 32.66 percent of voters. In second was Bennett, with 18,676 votes and 23.37 percent. These numbers reflect the tallies as of the morning after the election, with 100 percent of Santa Barbara County’s precincts reporting and 86.67 percent of Ventura County’s precincts in and votes left to be counted in both.
Cole states on his campaign’s Facebook page that he hopes to harness the private sector to address issues like education, the environment, jobs, and more.
“No new taxes. Period.” Cole told the Sun on election night.
Bennett—a Democrat and former Ventura County supervisor—has run on a platform that prioritizes education and the environment, branding himself as an environmental champion and pointing to his past experience as a public school teacher. Bennett also emphasized his fiscal responsibility in light of his contributions to the Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance enacted during his time as Ventura County supervisor, which limits individuals from making campaign contributions larger than $750 to any participating candidate for elected county office.
On March 4, Bennett told the Sun that he was “appreciative of the wide diversity of supporters that came together for this campaign staff,” and that he is “looking forward to learning more about the people and issues of Santa Barbara County.”
Dealing with “the negative impacts of this growing income inequality” as well as climate change issues are among Bennett’s top priorities going into November, he told the Sun.
Cathy Murillo, the current mayor of Santa Barbara and a former City Council member, came in third at 14,477 votes and 18.11 percent of voters. While she secured a strong second place among Santa Barbara County voters, Cole and Bennett’s significant Ventura County leads pushed Murillo into third place for the district and most likely out of the race.
“I congratulate the candidates who finished in the top two spots and look forward to a spirited contest going into the November election,” Murillo wrote in an email to the Sun.
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2020.